More details on seemingly light sentence for possession of child pornography

ROCHESTER — Anxiety and depression triggered by multiple traumatic events are what pushed one city man to watch child pornography, said the defense attorney for Michael Dufoe, who recently pleaded guilty to nine counts of possessing child pornography.

At a plea and sentencing hearing last Friday at Strafford Superior Court, Judge John Lewis also addressed child pornography as an international problem, which creates a wide range of victims.

Dufoe, a 47-year-old East Rochester man, was sentenced to at least two weeks in the county jail, followed by 20 years of probation. For Dufoe, violating probation — conditions for which include no Internet use, no unsupervised contact with minors, and continued counseling — could result in the court imposing three suspended prison sentences, each lasting 10-15 years.

Dufoe will also be listed on the sex offender registry for the rest of his life.

Stephen Brown, Dufoe’s defense attorney, said Dufoe experienced several traumatic life events in recent years, including death of a close family member, foreclosure, health problems of another close family member, and bankruptcy. These events, according to Brown, led Dufoe to mindlessly surf the Web looking for anything that would pique his interest. At one point, he came across adult pornography; then, his focus became child pornography.

During the sentencing hearing, Dr. Daniel Williams, Dufoe’s therapist since June 2011, said Dufoe appears to be a valued worker, who takes pride in being a provider for his family. He said that in response to traumatic events, some people engage in obsessive behavior as a way to escape, until that behavior takes over and things go downhill.

Lance Messinger, former director of the sex offender program at the state prison, who still works in rehabilitating sex offenders, testified that Dufoe has completed his program in Manchester, and has shown improvement.

Both Messinger and Williams testified they have no reason to think Dufoe will commit the offense again, or that he would act abusive toward any children.

At the sentencing hearing, Dufoe apologized for his actions.

“I have disgraced my family, my family name,” said Dufoe, saying that the use of child pornography has only enhanced the troubles in his life. “I am dealing with the consequences. I know that what I’ve done is reprehensible, and I will be dealing with this for the rest of my life. I’m sorry for everything.”

During the sentencing hearing, Judge John Lewis said that in a sense, Dufoe is a victim as well, because of those who make big money by producing child pornography, and exploiting others’ weaknesses and susceptibility of looking at those images.

“I am a very strong believer that there is a whole slew of victims that relate to child pornography,” said Lewis, stating that children are the biggest victims of all. “And I think you (Dufoe) are a victim too. And you’re also a criminal, but you’re also a victim. This is a sorry, degrading, disgusting thing that goes on around this country and the world ... I’m glad that you availed yourself of help.”

Lewis also reflected on the difficulty of identifying and prosecuting manufacturers of child pornography.

“What really disturbs me about these crimes, is that people who make a lot of money out of this — we never seem to catch them,” said Lewis. “By doing what he (Dufoe) is doing he victimizes the victims as well. But it might be that he’s a sick man — I’m pretty sure he is — whereas these other people, I don’t know, they might be sick too, but at least they seem to be making millions of dollars with this kind of horrible activity. It would be nice to some day see those people prosecuted, more so than what we are seeing (here).”

Assistant County Attorney Amy Feliciano noted that when child porn manufacturers do get prosecuted, “they’re basically looking at life in prison.” One example, she said, is the February sentencing of John Allen Wright, a former bus driver who was ordered to serve 160 years in prison for video taping children being sexually abused.

Possessing child pornography, said Feliciano, “is not a victimless crime.”

Dufoe’s case, she said, involved nine child victims, some of whom have been transported around the globe, including places such as Europe. Each time a person views the pornography videos, through continued distribution, these children are again victimized, she said.

“These are crime scene videos,” said Feliciano. “They are crime scene videos of children being abused.”

Feliciano said that during the police investigation, Dufoe told officers that he had been looking at child pornography for years. At times, he entered online search components that specifically searched for preteen pornography. Some of the victims in the videos Dufoe watched, she said, are as young as 3 or 4 years old.

“Had his wife not turned him in ... this conduct would probably keep going on,” said Feliciano.

She argued that rehabilitative actions that Dufoe took after being charged, such as counseling and completing the sex offender program, should not be used to reduce his sentence. But Judge Lewis questioned whether a person who took sincere corrective steps should receive the same sentence as a convict who made no effort in rehabilitation.

Brown, speaking to Foster’s on Wednesday, said, “When we’re dealing with human beings, we have to be careful on what we judge, and what we judge on ... We all have a story, and there are different motivations for different types of crime, and not all are the same.”

Brown said he is satisfied that Judge Lewis heard all the evidence presented and agreed with the defense’s position against prison time, adding, “He is not a lenient judge.”

Speaking to Dufoe at the sentencing hearing, Lewis warned him not to violate probation.

“One false move out of you, and you’re going to be facing a substantial amount of time in jail,” said Lewis. “You’re going to be under some form of active supervision until you’re in your late 60s. That’s the way I can sleep at night.”